据7月17日Trend报道，周五美国早盘原油价格大体稳定，因对经济刺激计划的预期抵消了因病例激增而对燃料需求复苏的担忧，同时主要原油生产国准备提高产量。

截至13：50，布伦特原油期货价格下跌15美分，至每桶43.22美元。美国西德克萨斯中质原油价格下跌5美分，至每桶40.70美元。这两中合约本周有望基本持平。

周四，美国报告了至少7.5万例病例，创单日记录。西班牙和澳大利亚的病例出现了两个多月来的最大单日涨幅，印度和巴西的病例继续飙升。与此同时，美国和欧盟的议员们将在未来几天就下一批经济刺激计划进行辩论。

美国能源咨询公司Ritterbusch and Associates的吉姆里特布希（Jim Ritterbusch）表示："虽然病毒病例仍在上升，限制了石油价格上涨，但对国会将出台更多刺激措施的预期，似乎为股市提供了支撑，并蔓延至石油市场。”

在欧佩克及其盟友同意从8月份开始将创纪录的970万桶/天的减产量削减200万桶后，基准原油价格周四下跌1%。

澳洲联邦银行大宗商品分析师Vivek Dhar表示，实际增产幅度将接近每日100万桶，因为5月至7月产量超过配额的伊拉克和其他国家将在8月和9月额外减产。

王佳晶 摘译自 Trend

原文如下：

Oil prices broadly stable as stimulus hopes balance corona fears

Oil prices were broadly stable on Friday in early U.S. trading, as expectations of stimulus programmes balanced concerns about the recovery in fuel demand as coronavirus cases surged, while major crude producers prepared to lift output, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.

Brent crude futures fell 15 cents to $43.22 a barrel by 1350 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 5 cents to $40.70. Both contracts were on track to remain broadly flat over the week.

The United States reported at least 75,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a daily record. Spain and Australia reported their steepest daily jumps in more than two months, while cases continued to soar in India and Brazil.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in the United States and in the European union are set to debate the next tranches of economic stimulus programmes over the coming days.

“While virus cases remain on the rise in providing an upside price limiter, expectations for some additional congressionally driven stimulus appear to be offering support to the equities that is spilling into the oil space,” said Jim Ritterbusch of U.S.-based energy consultants Ritterbusch and Associates.

The benchmark crudes had fallen 1% on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to trim record supply cuts of 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2 million bpd, starting in August.

The actual rise would be closer to 1 million bpd because Iraq and other countries, which produced more than their quota from May to July, would make extra cuts in August and September, said Vivek Dhar, commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.